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Home Improvements, My Spaces, Reviews · May 12, 2016

Find Inspiration with an Online Design Consultation

Ted Baker Tiles from British Ceramic Tile
Ted Baker Tiles from British Ceramic Tile

With our bathroom renovation now under way (new blog post and pictures coming soon!), I thought I’d just share a bit first about how we decided the design and layout of the new room.

We chose to lose the bath altogether since the room is very compact – and besides, I loathe cleaning the bath!  Fortunately the whole family agreed that a nice big shower would work just fine for us.

As our toilet is across the landing in a separate cubicle, the new shower room would literally house the shower and a sink.  Sounds easy to plan, doesn’t it?  But actually, the smallest rooms can present the biggest challenges and I don’t mind admitting I was finding visualising our new room a bit tricky.   If we were sacrificing the bath, we wanted as large a shower as possible, but would a big enclosure be too looming?  Where would be the best position for it?  Curved tray or straight?  We were also losing a sizeable vanity unit, so how would we store our bathroom items?  Could we squeeze in a heated towel rail as well as a radiator; did we even need one?

I needed some expert help and turned to interior designer, Karen Knox of Making Spaces.  I had got to know Karen through our mutual love of home interiors after we ‘met’ on twitter one evening. As soon as I took a look at her website, I realised how much I loved her sense of style.

Making Spaces
Living room by Making Spaces

Karen offers an online design consult service which I took advantage of.  I think people tend to think an interior designer is only for those with a massive build project and a budget to boot, but actually it can be the awkward spaces and ordinary homes that really benefit from an input of creativity and design.

An online design consultation with a professional like Karen can be a really effective way to drill down through all your likes, dislikes, wants and needs.  Karen is a natural problem solver who will suggest products, paint colours, furniture, flooring etc over the internet, via email to help you come up with a room design that you love.  She is skilled at challenging ideas and offering solutions – in our case, identifying where there would be dead space in our design (unacceptable in a room of such tiny proportions!).  Every centimetre counts, so she helped us turn that dead space into a storage opportunity (handy shelves to be built behind the shower tray, cleverly concealed by a slim full length mirrored door).

shower storage

Karen also suggested that a single wet room style glass screen would help give a minimal appearance in our small room, allaying my fears about having a full shower enclosure, which would have blocked the window more significantly.

I had discovered some tiles I loved by Ted Baker at British Ceramic Tile (top image), but didn’t know whether to go all grey, all white or one wall white and the rest grey.  Karen suggested grey all over, using a combination of their smooth Versatile and textured Tactile.  All grey would give a more cohesive feel and be offset nicely by the white shower tray, sink and ceiling.

I couldn’t think of a suitable window dressing either – although we have opaque glass, our bathroom faces on to the road, so Karen showed me one that might be perfect and its a design I’d not come across before – a bottom up blind!  Which means we could control the amount of privacy perfectly and add a quirky touch to the room.

I personally think there is a real value to having an online design consultation.  Even though I knew our old bathroom needed replacing, I was putting it off because it was a big commitment and I was worried about getting it wrong.  It helped so much to bounce ideas off someone with experience and vision, which resulted in me feeling excited about the project, rather than filled with trepidation.

Interior design isn’t all about expensive curtains – it’s practical, out of the box advice and ideas.  So if you want to improve your home and don’t know where to begin, would like to redecorate but can’t decide how, or you need guidance with furnishings, fixtures and fittings then an online design consultation could work for you.

You can check out Karen’s eye for design on her website Making Spaces and also her blog where she offers lots of practical design ideas.

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© Copyright 2016 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife

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Posted By: Antonia · In: Home Improvements, My Spaces, Reviews

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Comments

  1. Amanda says

    May 12, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    Oh I’m so excited to see it! I love the tiles you’ve chosen, and I think I spotted a trunk just like that today in a shop, I was really tempted!
    Amanda recently posted…Button and Sprung : Resting EasyMy Profile

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      May 17, 2016 at 12:30 pm

      Ah, thanks Amanda! Ooh, did you? Sounds very tempting! x

      Reply
  2. Stacey Sheppard says

    May 12, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    I’m dying to see how this turns out. Karen came up with some fantastic ideas for you. I bet you can’t wait to see them in action.
    Stacey Sheppard recently posted…Bruno Mattress : The Ultimate Sleep ExperienceMy Profile

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      May 17, 2016 at 12:29 pm

      Thanks Stacey – she’s a clever gal, that Karen 🙂 I was really glad of her help. x

      Reply
  3. Rachel Newcombe says

    May 13, 2016 at 11:07 am

    Two heads are better than one – the online consultation sounds very useful. Love the idea of that bottoms up blind, how clever. Look forward to seeing how your room progresses.
    Rachel Newcombe recently posted…How to Add Value To Your Home: Three Simple StepsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      May 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm

      Thanks Rachel, it’s very close to completion 🙂

      Reply
  4. Geraldine says

    May 13, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Looking forward to seeing the end result! x
    Geraldine recently posted…Tropical plants and a DIY plant shelf.My Profile

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      May 17, 2016 at 4:55 pm

      Thank you so much! x

      Reply

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Hello! I'M ANTONIA I launched Tidylife to provide interior, garden & lifestyle inspiration. Love home decor and budget friendly improvements? Me too! You'll find them all here. Plus decorating, styling & upcycling ideas. I also love to share fitness, fashion & beauty features, so I hope you enjoy visiting Tidylife.

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